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tional nerve system； that there is nothing else to which we can compare it。 It is so wide… spread that few are aware of its greatness。 It is strung out over fifty thousand cities and communities。
If it were all gathered together into one place； this Bell System； it would make a city of Telephonia as large as Baltimore。 It would contain half of the telephone property of the world。 Its actual wealth would be fully 760；000；000； and its revenue would be greater than the revenue of the city of New York。
Part of the property of the city of Telephonia consists of ten million poles； as many as would make a fence from New York to California； or put a stockade around Texas。 If the Telephonians wished to use these poles at home； they might drive them in as piles along their water…front； and have a twenty…five thousand…acre dock； or if their city were a hundred square miles in extent； they might set up a seven…ply wall around it with these poles。
Wire； too！ Eleven million miles of it！ This city of Telephonia would be the capital of an empire of wire。 Not all the men in New York State could shoulder this burden of wire and carry it。 Throw all the people of Illinois in one end of the scale； and put on the other side the wire…wealth of Telephonia； and long before the last coil was in place； the Illinoisans would be in the air。
What would this city do for a living？ It would make two…thirds of the telephones； cables； and switchboards of all countries。 Nearly one… quarter of its citizens would work in factories； while the others would be busy in six thousand exchanges； making it possible for the people of the United States to talk to one another at the rate of SEVEN THOUSAND MILLION CONVERSATIONS A YEAR。
The pay…envelope army that moves to work every morning in Telephonia would be a host of one hundred and ten thousand men and girls； mostly girls；as many girls as would fill Vassar College a hundred times and more； or double the population of Nevada。 Put these men and girls in line； march them ten abreast； and six hours would pass before the last company would arrive at the reviewing stand。 In single file this throng of Telephonians would make a living wall from New York to New Haven。
Such is the extraordinary city of which Alexander Graham Bell was the only resident in 1875。 It has been built up without the backing of any great bank or multi…millionaire。 There have been no Vanderbilts in it； no Astors； Rockefellers； Rothschilds； Harrimans。 There are even now only four men who own as many as ten thousand shares of the stock of the central company。 This Bell System stands as the life…work of unprivileged men； who are for the most part still alive and busy。 With very few and trivial exceptions； every part of it was made in the United States。 No other industrial organism of equal size owes foreign countries so little。 Alike in its origin； its development； and its highest point of efficiency and expansion； the telephone is as essentially American as the Declaration of Independence or the monument on Bunker Hill。
CHAPTER VI
NOTABLE USERS OF THE TELEPHONE
What we might call the telephonization of city life； for lack of a simpler word； has remarkably altered our manner of living from what it was in the days of Abraham Lincoln。 It has enabled us to be more social and cooperative。 It has literally abolished the isolation of separate families； and has made us members of one great family。 It has become so truly an organ of the social body that by telephone we now enter into contracts； give evidence； try lawsuits； make speeches； propose marriage； confer degrees； appeal to voters； and do almost everything else that is a matter of speech。
In stores and hotels this wire traffic has grown to an almost bewildering extent； as these are the places where many interests meet。 The hundred largest hotels in New York City have twenty…one thousand telephonesnearly as many as the continent of Africa and more than the kingdom of Spain。 In an average year they send six million messages。 The Waldorf…Astoria alone tops all residential buildings with eleven hundred and twenty telephones and five hundred thousand calls a year； while merely the Christmas Eve orders that flash into Marshall Field's store； or John Wanamaker's； have risen as high as the three thousand mark。
Whether the telephone does most to concentrate population； or to scatter it； is a question that has not yet been examined。 It is certainly true that it has made the skyscraper possible； and thus helped to create an absolutely new type of city； such as was never imagined even in the fairy tales of ancient nations。 The skyscraper is ten years younger than the telephone。 It is now generally seen to be the ideal building for business offices。 It is one of the few types of architecture that may fairly be called American。 And its efficiency is largely； if not mainly； due to the fact that its inhabitants may run errands by telephone as well as by elevator。
There seems to be no sort of activity which is not being made more convenient by the telephone。 It is used to call the duck…shooters in Western Canada when a flock of birds has arrived； and to direct the movements of the Dragon in Wagner's grand opera 〃Siegfried。〃 At the last Yale…Harvard football game； it conveyed almost instantaneous news to fifty thousand people in various parts of New England。 At the Vanderbilt Cup Race its wires girdled the track and reported every gain or mishap of the racing autos。 And at such expensive pageants as that of the Quebec Tercentenary in 1908； where four thousand actors came and went upon a ten…acre stage； every order was given by telephone。
Public officials； even in the United States； have been slow to change from the old…fashioned and more dignified use of written documents and uniformed messengers； but in the last ten years there has been a sweeping revolution in this respect。 Government by telephone！ This is a new idea that has already arrived in the more efficient departments of the Federal service。 And as for the present Congress； that body has gone so far as to plan for a special system of its own； in both Houses； so that all official announcements may be heard by wire。
Garfield was the first among American Presidents to possess a telephone。 An exhibition instrument was placed in his house； without cost； in 1878； while he was still a member of Congress。 Neither Cleveland nor Harrison； for temperamental reasons； used the magic wire very often。 Under their regime； there was one lonely idle telephone in the White House； used by the servants several times a week。 But with McKinley came a new order of things。 To him a telephone was more than a necessity。 It was a pastime； an exhilarating sport。 He was the one President who really revelled in the comforts of telephony。 In 1895 he sat in his Canton home and heard the cheers of the Chicago Convention。 Later he sat there and ran the first presidential telephone campaign； talked to his managers in thirty…eight States。 Thus he came to regard the telephone with a higher degree of appreciation than any of his predecessors had done； and eulogized it on many public occasions。 〃It is bringing us all closer together；〃 was his favorite phrase。
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